Strictly Business
by SilverCascade
Summary: Surprise crossed Ishimaru's face, along with wonder at the outright defiance taking place before him. "You - You were running - in the halls!" he cried, jabbing at Togami's chest. [Togami/Ishimaru. Ridiculous idiots being themselves. One-shot.]


Togami's breath was hot in his lungs, squeezed out in hard bursts as his feet pounded the floor. Oxfords were not made for running, and the fact his freshly polished shoes were being ruined like this, due to this pathetic excuse for a _person,_ was unforgivable.

He didn't look back. He didn't need to; the sound of feet slapping wood behind him was evident, and far too close. Running like some commoner was embarrassing, and he glared hard into the lenses of Monobear's cameras as he passed them. He flung his head around in the most undignified manner, not caring about the sweat dripping down his palms or the tightness of the suit in his exploding chest. Syo ran gaily behind him, plaits in hand as she skipped in that unnerving gait, scissors swinging at the edges of her fingers. She was singing something, and the words "My darling!" were audible; the bile rising in Togami's throat threatened to spill over.

The moment he stopped, having hurtled around the corner and into a nook behind a pillar, Syo skipped past him. Only when the calls of "My white knight Byakuya-sama! I'm comiiiiiiiiiiing!" died down did the boy step from his hideout. He dusted plaster from his shoulders and scouted the barren hallways for anyone else, for he wanted no conversation, no interaction, nothing. But the heir was not favoured by Lady Luck, because when he turned, he locked eyes with the one person he didn't wish to encounter. Pathetic red eyes glared down at him.

"Togami-kun! I've been looking for you since you vanished earlier." Ishimaru paused, observing Togami's hitching breath and the perspiration on his cheeks. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What do you want?" Drawing himself to his full height, he folded his arms and looked away.

Surprise crossed Ishimaru's face, along with wonder at the outright defiance taking place before him. "You - You were running - in the halls!" he cried, jabbing at Togami's chest.

"Get your fingers off me," Togami snarled, wrenching the hand away from his custom-made suit. "Those fingers are diseased."

Hurt flickered over his face, as if that line had crossed Ishimaru's life before, then the indignance returned.

"You can't run in the halls! It is forbidden!"

"Oh? Did you say something?" The blond boy turned his torso away.

"Running in the halls is a clear violation of the school rules! If Monobear will not enforce them - it means I must!"

"And what do you plan to do?"

"I hereby forbid you to ever walk in the halls again!"

"You don't own the hallways."

"Neither do you! But as the Super High School Level Hall Monitor, it is my responsibility- "

"Stop talking. It's embarrassing to see someone of your ridiculous caliber trying to take charge."

"Togami-kun, we're all equals in this and any other academic environment."

Togami's laugh was a dry whisper.

"Say that again when I have a tape recorder around. It'll make good entertainment at my family's next dinner party."

Ishimaru looked at him hard, and then beamed. "I hereby accept your invitation to attend your family's dinners! Once we leave this school, of course, but... I shall look forward to it!"

"You need to stop- "

"But such a violation of the rules from someone of your status, Togami-kun, cannot be excused through invitations such as that! Bribery is unforgivable!"

"For the love of-"

"But... it's the first time I have ever been invited to a family dinner," he mused, to Togami's tried patience.

"Stop that."

"Yes, you're correct! I must report your misbehaviour to Monobear so he can administer the appropriate beratement." Ishimaru blinked hard, pulling himself back to the matter at hand.

"He's going to kill me, you thick fool. He is literally going to kill me."

"Yes - ! He might…do that... It's not the best decision if he decides to do that… Such an extreme manoeuvre." Ishimaru paled, but didn't break his gaze from Togami. "But that means I must reprimand you myself!"

"What do I have to pay you to stop talking to me?!" he yelled, grabbing Ishimaru's shirt in his fist.

The stern face stared him in the eye, unflinching, refusing to break lest the heir scurry away. "I'm sorry, Togami-kun, but your money cannot weedle you out of this situation, nor can your cavalier manners!" Ishimaru pulled himself free of the grip and patted his chest.

"We'll see about that." Togami said, the fist near his face concealing a half-smirk. "I can guarantee that I have a method to make you stop talking... for good."

"You're threatening me?" Ishimaru glared at him. "That is also a violation of -"

"Just listen to me! If I can quieten you in the next five minutes, you're going to leave me alone and drop these absurd accusations at once!"

"If they are absurd, why are you acting so defensively?" asked Ishimaru, but Togami didn't waver. "I... I hereby accept these conditions, but only because I know you cannot deliver, and will not see reason any other way. Despite all your talk, there is no perceivable reason you would kill me!" Though his eyes were closed, his broad smirk and crossed arms told Togami all he needed to know. There was only one way to quieten an imbecile like Ishimaru, and cracking his knuckles, Togami drowned out Ishimaru's voice and leaned forward.

"Strictly business, swain," he murmured.

A jerk of the hand later and their lips were smashed together. Togami's fingers held Ishimaru's chin in place as his eyes shot open. Spluttering, he pulled Togami's hands away from his face, but the vice softened into a caress before leaving an invisible burn on his skin. Ishimaru stared, mouth open and face contorting.

Pressing a kiss to a red cheek to prolong the effects of his trick, Togami turned. He walked away, pushing his glasses along the bridge of his nose and allowing himself a quick grin at the sweet victory. Footsteps faded into silence.

Behind the pillar there was a loud sigh, strained and half-choking, and if anybody had known what Touko Fukawa's scream sounded like, they would've rushed to her side. Her body dropped like a brick in a puddle; she collapsed haphazardly against the stone column.

Ishimaru stood in the hall for twenty minutes, alone until the broad shoulders of Mondo Oowada and the petite figure of Chihiro Fujisaki turned the corner. Even then, he didn't look up or blink, not even when his brother shook his shoulders gently, or Fujisaki posed gentle questions about his health. It was Fujisaki's concerned cry of "Fukawa-san!" that stirred the mystery further. Oowada carried his brother and the unconscious girl to the cafeteria.

Ishimaru didn't speak for the rest of the day, though his mouth was fixed in a permanent gasp. It was only Togami who didn't harbour some concern at the boy's health. The other students brushed it away as the general disdain he towed everywhere; his smirk went unnoticed.


End file.
